With daylight dwindling, Rory McIlroy's star shone. Racing sundown with a slender lead, golf's newest giant hurried toward the final hole of the PGA Championship with long strides and high purpose.

The rain that had delayed Sunday's round left McIlroy rushed as he finished it Sunday night, so much so that he was practically tailgating the pair playing in front of him. But as darkness descended on Valhalla Golf Club, there was still enough light for McIlroy to close out Phil Mickelson and to catch the lid of the Wanamaker Trophy in midair when it fell from its bulky base.

Where this kid is concerned, the sky is the limit and almost always blue. What Tiger Woods once was, Rory McIlroy is rapidly becoming.

"It's beginning to look a little Tiger-esque, I suppose," Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell said of his precocious countryman. "I said to the boys at the (British) Open, I didn't think we were going to see the new Tiger era, as in someone creating their own kind of Tiger-esque era just yet.

"I guess you could say I'm not eating my words, but I'm certainly starting to chew on them right now. ... When the kid is playing well, he's pretty tough to live with. Pretty special stuff, yeah."

The PGA Championship marked McIlroy's third straight tournament victory and his second major championship in a span of three weeks. At 25 years old, he is already the world's top-ranked player and only the third golfer to win his third and now fourth majors before his 26th birthday. Because the previous two were Woods and Jack Nicklaus, expectations of McIlroy have exploded.

Rory Mcilroy reacts after sinking a putt during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage, Special to The C-J)

Rickie Fowler tees off at the 14th green during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage David Lee Hartlage, Special to t)

With the sun setting and strom clouds looming, Rickie Fowler tees of at the 18th hole in the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. Fowler tied for third place with Henrik Stenson. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage David Lee Hartlage, Special to t)

Phil Mickelson walks off the 18th hole after finishing second in the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage, Special to The C-J)

Phil Mickelson reacts after missing a put on 14th hole during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage, Special to The C-J)

Phil Mickelson reacts after missing a putt during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage, Special to The C-J)

Phil Mickelson reacts after missing a put during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage, Special to The C-J)

Phil Mickelson watches his shot from the rough during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage, Special to The C-J)

Phil Mickelson celebrates a putt to save par during the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. (By David Lee Hartlage, Special to the C-J) Aug. 10, 2014. (Photo: David Lee Hartlage, Special to The C-J)

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"I try and put all this talk aside every time it comes up," McIlroy said Sunday night. "But Tiger and Jack are two of the most successful players in our sport of all time. I'm on a nice track at the minute and I'm on a nice path. I've still got a long way to go, but to be in their company at this age is very special."

Oddsmakers made McIlroy an even-money choice to win the PGA before he had completed his second round Friday. If those odds seemed preposterous in a field of 156 players, they seem prescient now.

"Best player in the world, hands down," Rickie Fowler said of McIlroy. "We'll see if we can sneak one away from him at some point."

The only player to finish among the top five in all four 2014 majors, Fowler tied Henrik Stenson for third place in the PGA, two strokes behind McIlroy. The 44-year-old Mickelson, a five-time winner of golf majors, narrowly missed a long birdie putt on No. 15, lost a share of the lead with a bogey on No. 16, and yet nearly forced a playoff with a brilliant chip shot on No. 18.

Though the wet conditions made the course play longer than its 7,458 yards, 58 players succeeded in breaking par and 14 of them were at least 10-under par.

"For a major, this was as gettable as you are going to get," said Ernie Els, like McIlroy a winner of four majors.

Playing in the last group with Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, McIlroy waited his turn to tee off as the field bunched closer behind him.

Unable to make a birdie until the par-5 No. 7, McIlroy was briefly part of a five-way tie for the lead at 12 under.

"I started the round very tentatively," he said. "I didn't really have it, sort of just trying to get through the first few holes making pars while everyone else was attacking, so that wasn't good."

Standing on the fairway on No. 10, McIlroy watched Fowler sink a 30-foot birdie putt to go to 15 under, a three-shot difference at that stage. He responded with a "massive" eagle to move to within a single shot, then seized a share of the lead with a birdie on No. 13.

What little daylight could be found in the gathering darkness resulted from Mickelson taking a bogey on No. 16 and McIlroy making birdie on No. 17. Two strokes ahead with two holes to play, McIlroy sought permission to pick up his pace from Fowler and Mickelson.

"It was a classy move for those guys to let us come up because they didn't need to," McIlroy said. "They could have let us just stand there and wait in darkness and make it a little bit more difficult. True sportsmanship."

Though visibility was limited, it was easy to see that Rory McIlroy is special.

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, by email at tsullivan@courier-journal.com, and on Twitter @TimSullivan714